If someone had told me just four short years ago that my life would be marked by more blessings than I could count, I would have looked at them with complete incredulity. I never dreamed I could be surrounded by the warm love and happiness I experience today.
It was all made possible by my unexpected pregnancy and a community that empowered me to take on the mission of motherhood.
I was raised in a small trailer with no electricity, let alone love, support, or a good example. I would try to take my younger siblings places and be outside, with them never knowing that my intention was to protect them from what occurred inside our small, four walls.
I couldn’t let my innocent siblings see or smell the copious drugs that had consumed our mother for years. They deserved as much of a childhood as possible, despite not knowing where their next meal would come from, which was often a bag of rice dusted with salt.
Taking on the role of “mother” toward my siblings as a young teenager was never in my plan. Needless to say, it was hard, and I was incredibly frustrated as a child raising three other children.
Then, at 15 years old and to my utter dismay, I became pregnant.
Getting an abortion was my immediate decision, thinking I could barely take care of myself let alone my three younger siblings. The mere thought of bringing a new life into this messy situation at my
